Kings Great Adventure
Kings Great Adventure is an amusement park located in Jackson, New Jersey, owned by Cedar Fair and formerly owned by Kings Entertainment Company from 1974 to 1992 and Paramount from 1993 to 2006. Situated between New York City and Philadelphia, the park complex also contains the Soak City water park. Formerly known as Kings Great Adventure (1974-1993) and Paramount's Great Adventure (1993-2006). The park opened on July 1, 1974 History Kings Entertainment Company Era (1974-1992) In 1972, following the success of Kings Island, Kings Entertainment Company was planning a second park in New Jersery. A new 20-acre (81,000 m2) water park addition called Hurricane Reef opened in 1992. To build the water park, Kings Great Adventure filled in two-thirds of Lake near the Coney Mall region of the park. Originally it featured the Monsoon Chutes (two pairs of free-fall body slides, at 70 and 50 feet (15 m) high, respectively), the Torrential Twist (two enclosed body slides which wrapped around each other), the Pipeline (four open body slides), Cyclone (three enclosed body slides, the center of which was a free-fall), Tidal Wave (two open slides, which riders rode on inner tubes), Splash Island (an area for children with five water slides), and a lazy river. Paramount era (1993–2006) Kings Great Adventure continued its growth when it became part of Paramount Parks in 1993 and switched its name to Paramount's Great Adventure. New attractions and areas of the park themed to Paramount's television shows and films appeared at Paramount's Great Adventure almost every season that they were under Paramount's ownership. In 1993, they added a motion simulator attraction, originally featuring the Days of Thunder film, and Wild Animal Safari was removed at the end of the season.Also in 1993, McDonaldland was removed to make room for Ghostbusters KidZone. The 1994 season saw the addition of a new area of the park themed to the 1984 movie Ghostbusters which replaced McDonaldland. In the next year, another children's area, known as Nickelodeon Splat City, opened near the Shockwave roller coaster, this was a product of Viacom purchasing Paramount in 1994. This was later converted into Nick Central. In the 1995 season, On May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. announced that they were purchasing all Kings Island, Carowinds, Kings Great Adventure, Kings Dominion, Great America, and Canada's Wonderland. The sale was finalized on June 30, 2006 for $1.24 billion. The park continued to operate as Paramount's Great Adventure until the beginning of the 2007 season when Paramount was dropped from the title. Cedar Fair era (2007–present) Control of the Paramount Parks had been transferred from Viacom to CBS Corporation at the start of the 2007 season. For the 2007 season, the park lowered its single-day admission by $5 to $44.95, one year after Cedar Point had made the same change to their ticket prices. This was the first time that Kings Great Adventure has ever lowered their ticket prices for a full season. In addition, they brought back their Starlight discount, which allows admission to the park for $29.99 after 4pm. Kings Dominion expanded Soak City for the 2007 season, adding a second wave pool called Tidal Wave Bay, a four-person family raft slide called Zoom Flume, and a ProSlide Tornado. During the Cedar Fair era, the park introduced Halloween Haunt. While the park had always had a Halloween event, the new HAUNT event has been received very well. Also during the 2007–2008 offseason, Cedar Fair renamed the park's last two rides to open with Paramount theming. Drop Zone Stunt Tower became Drop Tower Scream Zone and The Italian Job: Turbo Coaster became Backlot Stunt Coaster. Tomb Raider: Firefall received the name The Crypt. Areas # International Street # Coney Mall (Formerly known as Coney Island (1974-1985)) # Adventure Island (Formerly known as Lion Country Safari (1974-1977), Wild Animal Safari (1977-1993), and Adventure Village (1994-2013)) # Action Zone (Formerly known as MovieTown (1974-1992) and Paramount Studios (1993-1998) # Planet Snoopy (Formerly known as Hanna Barbera Land (1974-2004) and Nickelodeon Central (2001-2009)) # Frontier Land (Formerly known as "Frontier Land" (1974-1999) and "South Park" (2000-2006) - a themed area based on a western theme depicting a town with ranch-style buildings, old wooden signs, and one of the park's most iconic attractions, the Miami Valley Railroad. # Camp Snoopy (Formerly known as McDonaldland (1974-1993) Ghostbusters KidZone (1993-2000), Caillou Land (2001-2006), Gorillaz Central (2007-2012) # Soak City (Opened in 1992) (Formerly known as Hurricane Reef (1992–1998), Crocodille Dundee's Boomerang Bay (1999-2006), and Boomerang Bay (2007-2007)) Attractions International Street Coney Mall Similar to Kings Island Safari Village Camp Snoopy (Formerly known as McDonaldland (1974-1993), Ghostbusters KidZone (1994-2000), Caillou Land (2001-2006), and Gorillaz Central (2007-2012) The area initially opened with the park in 1974 as McDonaldland and featured attractions and walkaround characters themed to Ronald McDonald (added on July 1, 1974), Sundae (Ronald's dog, added in April 1975, removed in 1994), Hamburgular (added on July 1, 1974, removed in 1994), Grimace (added on July 1, 1974), Mayor McCheese (added on July 1, 1974, removed in 1994) Birdie the Early Bird (added on July 1, 1974, removed in 1994), Captain Crook (added on July 1, 1974, removed in 1994), Fry Kids (added on July 1, 1974, removed in 1994), The Happy Meal Gang (Added in 1980, removed in 1994), and the McNugget Buddies (Added in 1985, removed in 1994). The area's flagship attraction was The Monster O’ McDonaldland Loch dark ride. In 1994, the McDonaldland branding was dropped and the McDonaldland characters were removed. The area was renamed Ghostbusters KidZone. In 2007, Caillou Land was rethemed to Gorillaz Central. Action Zone Planet Snoopy (Formerly known as Hanna Barbera Land (1974-2004), Nickelodeon Central (2000-2004), and Nickelodeon Universe (2005-2009)) Originally opened in 1974 as The Happy Land of Hanna Barbera and featured Yogi's Cave, Scooby Doo, Boulder Bumpers, In 2005, Nickelodeon Frontier Land (Formerly known as "Frontier Land" (1974-1999) and "South Park" (2000-2006) Soak City Former Attractions, Shows, Shopping, Dining Incidents * On July 24, 1976, a lion mauled a 20-year-old park employee to death. His body was found 15 to 20 feet from his vehicle, which was protected by iron bars, in a section of the park's 1000-acre wildlife preserve where about 50 lions lived. The ranger had a history of violating park rules. Investigators believed the ranger left the vehicle to relieve himself, and was attacked after deliberately urinating on the lions. * On May 26, 1982, a lion attacked a 34-year-old park employee who was cleaning in the area. After climbing to a rooftop, he was rescued and taken to Hospital where he was treated for a punctured trachea and other cuts. * On May 13, 1983, a 17-year-old boy was attending a graduation party with his classmates fell about 200 feet (61 m) to his death down the elevator shaft of the Eiffel Tower. He had climbed a large fence onto an emergency stairwell and then into the shaft for an unknown reason and was struck by the elevator's counterweight. He became tangled in the cables and fell when the elevator at the bottom started back up again. * On August 13, 1986, a 32-year-old man leaped to his death after jumping from a curved, 9-foot-high restraining barrier on the Eiffel Tower's observation deck. The observation deck was enclosed with a barrier after the incident. * On August 5, 1989, a 39-year-old musician was killed in the employee parking lot after being struck by lightning. * On August 7, 1990, a boat on the White Water Canyon Rapids ride flipped over, injuring three, when one boat caught up with another near the ride's midpoint. It was ruled as a "freak occurrence." * * On August 20, 1992, One day before the end of the season, the Ronald Mcdonald animatronic was caught on fire, causing the fire alarm to go off causing guests to evacuate. However, a new one was built in 1993 which replaced the one that was caught on fire. * * * * * * * * * In 1998, during the last ride of Smurf Mountain at 8:00 pm a minute after the ride vehicles entered the mountain, the attraction broke down forcing guests to evacuate. However, cast members make up for this by allowing guests to linger in the ride evacuation and take photos with the Smurfs. * * * * * * * * *On July 5, 2002, a 26-year-old park employee who was dressed as Caillou punched a 7-year old into the air. He was arrested later after that. * On July 26, 2003, a 34-year-old woman suffered a heart attack while riding the The Bat. She was rushed to Hospital and died the following day. A preliminary autopsy report found that she had an undiagnosed enlarged heart. It was speculated that the enlarged heart, as well as having high blood pressure, contributed to the heart attack. * On June 23, 2006, debris went flying during Volcano: The Blast Coaster's launch which cut a man's leg. An investigation discovered a loose bolt had become lodged in the linear induction motor magnets used to launch the train. * On July 9, 2006, a vertical support timber cracked, leading to two more support beam failures. Together, these caused a slight dip in the track, creating a jarring "pothole effect" that injured 27 riders as they passed over, many in the neck and chest. About 17 injured were released from the hospital within five hours. Others were kept overnight. None of the injuries were life-threatening.101 The ride reopened on July 4, 2007, with various changes. The loop was removed to allow for lighter trains and a smoother ride, according to park officials. *On August 12, 2008, Someone who was dressed as Dora from Dora's Sing Along Adventure punched a 7-year old into the air. She was arrested later after that. *On May 11, 2009, sparks on the "Murdoc" animatronic figure appeared during a performance and later caught on fire and was extinguished. After that, Green Mouse Robotics built a new copy of the figure. * On June 16, 2009, a 39-year-old woman reported injuring her head while riding on May 31. A CT scan found she had a damaged blood vessel. She was transferred to Hospital's intensive care unit and released the next day. The ride was closed indefinitely, while a state investigation determined it had no irregularities. * On July 20, 2012, a 48-year-old woman from Depford, New Jersey, was found unresponsive in a car in the Patriot ride after the train for Patriot returned to the unloading station. She was reported to have had a "seizure-like episode" after her ride. She was taken to Hospital in Jackson, New Jersey where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy discovered she had a brain aneurysm. The ride reopened on July 23, 2012, after passing two safety inspections. * *On July 4, 2017, Backlot Stunt Coaster had it's cable snapped, which caused debris to fly everywhere, which injured a 14-year-old, and made a wound on the teen's dad which was riding with him, They were later sent to the hospital. * * On June 21, 2019, part of the parking lot flooded, waterlogging some cars.